Vitamin-M / I Cannot Remember My Mother
Writing with the senses
Write with your senses, and write a diary entry.
Sensory words help readers see, hear, smell and feel:
- visual (sight): glowing, vibrant, crimson, gloomy, gigantic, minuscule;
- auditory (hearing): rustle, hiss, sizzle, squeaky, deafening, ear-splitting;
- olfactory (smell): aroma, scent, fragrant, pungent, stale, stinky;
- tactile (touch): sticky, rough, smooth, slimy, fluffy, hairy, chilled.
A poet at work. Sarojini Naidu's March morning uses such words: scarlet lilies, the scents of neem and champak, the shrill joy of nesting birds.
A diary entry:
- begins with the day, date and time;
- is written in the first person (I, my);
- records experiences, sensory details and feelings;
- ends with a reflection: what you thought or learnt.
Two kinds of diarist. Some, like Anne Frank, began 'Dear Diary', treating the diary as a friend. Others, like Samuel Pepys, simply recorded events, thoughts and feelings.
Write what you saw, heard, smelt and felt.
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